Mitt Romney famously says he would "get rid
of" federal funding for Planned Parenthood if he had the chance.
His running mate, Paul Ryan, was one of more than 200 Republican
cosponsors of a piece of legislation that would have narrowed the
definition of rape.

Can you imagine -- the same Republican House that refuses to pass
a jobs bill jumped at the opportunity to make life harder for
victims of rape?

And what do Romney and Ryan think of Akin's latest statement?
They've been trying to distance themselves from it -- but
Congressman Ryan has already partnered with Akin on a whole host
of issues that restrict women's ability to make their own health
care decisions.

With the vice presidential nominee Ryan, especially, expect
Democrats to hit that direct connection over and over for the
next three months.

In 2011, Ryan joined Akin — along with 171 others, however — in
co-sponsoring The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion
Act, or House Resolution 3, which aimed to
"prohibit taxpayer funded abortions and to provide for
conscience protections." It passed the House but has no chance,
at least now, of being brought for a vote in the
Democrat-controlled Senate.

The Hyde Amendment contains exceptions
to federal law banning funding for abortions that include cases
of rape, incest and life-threatening circumstances for the
mother. The original version of H.R. 3 would have narrowed that
exception to cases of "forcible rape," though that definition was
removed after much dissent (see Page 35 of the current text of the bill
here).